Many industry leaders are expecting more done with less, which employees feel is simply an unrealistic expectation. This results in teams losing focus, product quality diminishing, and customer service deteriorating, which actually causes a decline in product output. The exact opposite of what businesses want.
It should come as no surprise that every owner wants their business to have the highest achievable productivity levels. The more productive their workforce, the more profit comes in, and the more successful their empire will become. So to give your business the very best chance of success, here are some of the most effective methods to proactively increase workforce productivity.
1. Deliver useful onboarding
One of the most effective methods of increasing workplace productivity is during the onboarding process. By communicating strategically and openly with employees from day one about all aspects of your culture, you can ensure their goals are aligned with those of the company.
Designing onboarding for each new employee that’s useful, accurate, and engaging will put them on the path to increase workplace productivity from the beginning. And because it improves their overall experience, onboarding effectively also has the potential to increase the likelihood of them remaining with your company throughout their career.
2. Encourage employee wellbeing
When it comes to increasing workplace productivity, the health and wellbeing of employees also play a substantial role. When their well-being is suffering, employee productivity will most likely be much lower than it could be. Whereas by helping them prioritize their health, not only will they be happier and more energized at work, but you’ll also see an overall boost in productivity as well.
While you can’t exactly force your staff to eat healthier foods or start going to yoga class on the weekends, there are some other ways of promoting wellbeing. Start by making sure staff take time off for lunch as well as multiple smaller breaks as well.
Give them time throughout the day to stretch their legs away from their desks and maybe go outside for a little sunshine and fresh air. By allowing periods of disconnection from their workload regularly, they’ll come back ready to contribute more and increase production.
3. Avoid unnecessary meetings
In all honesty, there’s a good reason why meetings are so loathed. There are far too many executives who rely on having an hour-long staff meeting any time they have even the most pedestrian of announcements to make. This is why meetings have earned such a stereotypically awful reputation as major time wasters.
Instead of allowing your team leaders to call meetings when the subject could have been covered in an email, they need to know how to hold effective meetings. Once they know all about effective meetings and only schedule them when necessary, productivity will certainly be increased. When staff meetings are only called to discuss the accomplishment of common goals, they’ll no longer waste hours discussing things like printer paper jams or snack options at the cafeteria.
4. Build a great environment
To ensure your employees are as productive as possible at all times, it’s important to create a conducive working environment for that to happen. Countless studies have shown how important a positive working culture and environment are for businesses.
To create the right working environment, start by ensuring all members of your staff feel like they’re a necessary part of your team by demonstrating their contributions are always valued. Humans always listen to our feelings in any given situation and then we respond in kind.
If we’re surrounded by stress, we tend to feel stressed as well. We absorb their emotions. By ensuring your workplace is built on honesty, compassion, and respect from upper management down, you can ensure it is always super productive. Plus, you’ll find that employees become more loyal to both the company and everyone else in their team.
While there are different reasons why employees might be less productive, you can get proactive about it. Simply by following our tips above, you can increase workplace productivity, improve company culture, as well as maximize overall profits.